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Groundbreaking AI Ideas to Solve the World’s Problems

Groundbreaking AI Ideas to Solve the World’s Problems

By XPRIZE on August 07, 2017

147 teams representing 22 countries are currently competing for the $5M IBM Watson AI XPRIZE, which aims to demonstrate that AI can effectively collaborate with humans to solve the grand challenges facing our world. These teams are proposing breakthrough AI technologies from extraordinarily diverse fields, and are working toward solutions such as:

Identifying infant birth asphyxia—a condition that leads to significant brain damage and deaths among infants. With AI technology, it is possible that a model can label infant cries as asphyxiated or non-asphyxiated, making a diagnosis possible.

Detecting online sex trafficking. Sex exploitation online is commonplace, and the exploited persons hide their advertisements online by placing phone numbers and other contact details within images or unintelligible text. With AI technology, the hope is to extract this information.

Preventing the extinction of bees. With the intention of helping a collapsing bee population, this AI technology would come in the form of a device beekeepers can place in hives. The device would listen to the hive and make recommendations for the beekeeper on how to best care for the bees.

We’re aware that AI is a fast-moving field, and that breakthroughs are happening at an unprecedented pace. So starting September 1st, the IBM Watson AI XPRIZE is allowing teams with groundbreaking ideas to enter and compete for the $5 million prize purse. These wild card submissions must include radical new advances, as we want to accommodate for new technologies that weren’t available at the competition’s beginning.

XPRIZE truly believes that AI, in collaboration with humans, is capable of solving some of the world’s most pressing grand challenges. Think you have a groundbreaking AI idea that has the potential for this capability?